Tetraethylorthosilicate induced preparation of mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride with improved visible light photocatalytic activity

Mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mg-C₃N₄) has been prepared by the in situ formed silica from tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a mesoporous template. The resultant mg-C₃N₄ possessed a large surface area (152 m² g^-1), and enhanced photodegradation performance for Rhodamine B pollutant when energized with visible light. Moreover, mg-C₃N₄ also exhibited good stability after three recycles. The significant enhancement in photodegradation activity over mg-C₃N₄ catalyst could be ascribed to the large surface area, high adsorption ability to dye and enhanced separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The simple strategy for the fabrication of mg-C₃N₄ may facilitate its wide applications in various fields.